to the knowledge of Captain Semmes while the Tuscaloosa
was still within British waters, and that he should have been requested
to state whether he did or did not admit the facts to be as alleged. He
should also have been called upon (unless the facts were admitted) to
produce the Tuscaloosa's papers. If the result of these inquiries had
been to prove that the vessel was really an uncondemned prize, brought
into British waters in violation of Her Majesty's orders made for the
purpose of maintaining her neutrality, I consider that the mode of
proceeding in such circumstances, most consistent with Her Majesty's
dignity, and most proper for the vindication of her territorial rights,
would have been to prohibit the exercise of any further control over the
Tuscaloosa by the captors, and to retain that vessel under Her Majesty's
control and jurisdiction until properly reclaimed by her original
owners.

_Sir P. Wodehouse to the Duke of Newcastle. December_ 19, 1863.

I have had the honour to receive your Grace's despatch of the 4th
ultimo, from which I regret to learn that the course taken here relative
to the Confederate war steamer Alabama and her prizes has not in some
respects given satisfaction to Her Majesty's Government.

I must only beg your Grace to believe that no pains were spared by the
late Acting Attorney-General or by myself to shape our course in what we
believed to be conformity with the orders of Her Majesty's Government
and the rules of international law, as far as we could ascertain and
interpret them.

Mr. Denyssen has been so constantly engaged with professional business
since the arrival of the mail that I have been prevented from discussing
with him the contents of your despatch; but I think it right,
nevertheless, to take advantage of the first opportunity for
representing to your Grace the state of uncertainty in which I am placed
by the receipt of this communication, and for soliciting such further
explanations as may prevent my again falling into error on these
matters. In so doing I trust you will be prepared to make allowance for
the difficulties which must arise out of this peculiar contest, in
respect of which both parties stand on a footing of equality as
belligerents, while only one of them is recognized as a nation.

In the first place, I infer that I have given cause for dissatisfaction
in not having more actively resented the fact that the Sea Bride, on the
day after her capture, was